4053262
| Question | Answer |
| The psychological discipline of Cognitive Psychology was conceived as an improvement on Behaviourist theory. What is Behaviourism? | Behaviourism is a very objective approach to personality. It proposes that all behaviour is derived from learnt S-R associations, and not internal mental structures. |
| Using a Behaviourist perspective, how would you explain the maze behaviour of rats, as researched by Tolman? What was the importance of such a study? | Tolman asserted that the rats' choices for particular pathways in the maze was attributed to the strengthening of specific S-R associations, and the weakening of others. The maze rats in his study had learnt the locations of rewards, and would often choose pathways that had previously led them to positive outcomes. From this, he postulated the 'Cognitive Map' theory. A cognitive map is an internal, mental representation of environmental locations or landmarks, which were formed from external cues. This allowed an individual an idea of the environmental relationships and how to attain particular goals in a given environment. |
| How did Skinner attempt to explain verbal language using S-R associations? | Skinner proposed that verbal responses were made under the influence of stimulus properties of an object or event which were uniquely salient for an individual. |
| Computers are very useful machines that process, transfer and manipulate information. Cognitive processes in our brain also function in a similar way. Propose a model that outlines the flow of information in cognition. | |
| What research method is used to determine the duration, speed and sequencing of mental processing operations? How does it work? In what ways can information be processed? | Mental chronometry allows us to infer the nature of mental processes by comparison of two tasks: choice RT - simple RT = estimated stimulus evaluation time There are two dimensions information processing can occur: 1. Serial vs. Parallel 2. Self-terminating (stops once target stimulus is found) vs. Exhausting (stops once whole array has been searched through) |
| Studying the nature of mental process operations is done in an indirect manner. This is because processing is easily manipulated by cognitive biases. Name the cognitive biases. | Hindsight bias "I knew it all along" Confirmation bias - ignore information that doesn't validate our beliefs We prefer to seek order in randomness and therefore ignore chance We rely on individual samples |
| All stimulus input of a given event is registered by an individual, yet only a particular portion is selected for higher cognitive thinking. How does the brain select information to attend to, and what not to attend to? | Boradbent proposed that there are filter models in place which prevent 'uninformative', irrelevant information from being processed further. This filter can be activated in two ways: An early filter selectively attends to a specific physical channel and ignores information that comes through any other channel (e.g. a voice) A late filter attends to multiple channels and selects the channel that has the most relevant meaning within a given context |
| In what ways can we control | Attention can be: 1. Involuntary/ exogenous/ stimulus-driven - this is typical of parallel search tasks 2. Voluntary/ endogenous/ goal-driven - this is typical of serial search tasks |
| What is inattentional blindness? | A psychological lack of attention, not associated with any defect or deficits, for an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight. |
| What is change blindness? Name an example. | Change blindness is the phenomenon where observers fail to notice changes in a visual stimulus. E.g. Spot the difference |
| What does Kahneman propose in his Resource Model of Attention? | Kahneman proposes that limitations on attentional processing is not attributed to filter constraints, but to constraints on attentional resources. Attentional resources can be allocated to attention at any time, not just filtered. Some resources require high mental effort, and as such need a greater proportion of allocation while other resources are automatic despite high information load, and so need very little allocation. As such, the brain can multi-task in its allocation of attentional resources. It can attend to more than one task at a given point in time. |
| Define the terms STM and LTM, and distinguish between the two. | Short-term memory and Long-term memory are two different memory systems. STM refers to temporary maintenance of information. It has a limited capacity and relies on phonological coding. Forgetting STM information is the result of lack of rehearsal. LTM refers to permanent storage of facts, episodes and procedures (semantic, episodic, procedural). It has an unlimited capacity and relies on semantic coding. Forgetting LTM information is dependent on interference. |
| What is iconic and echoic memory? | Literal copies of visual and auditory events which have unlimited capacity, but are retained only for a short duration. |
| Explain the Working Memory Model and its components. | The Working Memory Model is a revised theory of STM. It proposes that STM has a Central Executive that oversees the allocation of different types of information into sub-systems: the visuospatial sketchpad, the phonological loop, episodic buffer (sends to LTM) VSS (inner eye) stores and processes information in a visual or spatial format. It is particularly useful for navigation PL (inner ear, voice) stores and processes spoken and written information |
| How is memory organised? | |
| Declarative or explicit memory is made up of the episodic and the semantic memory systems. Distinguish between the two. | Episodic memory is autobiographical and refers to the recollection of life events in an individual's history. Semantic memory is meaningful and refers to the knowledge of ideas and facts. |
| What is the hierarchical network model? | Hierarchical network models are knowledge representations that illustrate the semantic relations between propositions as inter-connected nodes. The closer two propositions related, the closer the semantic distance between the two nodes. Spreading activation occurs when the activation of the appropriate node leads to the activation of related nodes. |
| Distinguish between schemas and scripts. | Schemas are generalised mental representations or concepts of a class of people, objects, scenes or events (i.e. what we expect them to be like?). This is very typical of the notion of stereotypes. Scripts are generalised mental representations of an event in time (i.e. what we expect to happen?). |
| What is nondeclarative memory or procedural learning? | Procedural memory is the ability to remember how to do things. This is typical of learning new skills and developing a talent. It is incremental and requires gradual experience. It is automatic and doesn't require conscious attention. |
| Distinguish between explicit and implicit memory tasks. | Explicit memory tasks target intentional retrieval through recall and recognition from a given list. Implicit memory tasks target uncued memory retrieval in performance-based tasks. |
| What is a false memory and how is it fabricated? | A false memory is the retrieval of a memory that did not actually occur to an an individual. This can be due to misinformation and misattribution of the original memory source. With time, false memories are distorted and become more vivid as the individual incorporates new information into the memory to fit with existing schemas and scripts. |
| What is a flashbulb memory? | A flashbulb memory is a detailed and more confident retrieval of a global event that has high emotional content. Though individuals, are more confident in the memory, flashbulb memories still decay over time |
| What is confabulation? Why might they occur? | Confabulation is the unintended and unconscious provision of incorrect information, often with high confidence. This may be due to a preservation of self-image, a portrayal of control, completeness and coherence. This may also be due to errors in retrieval and in monitoring |
| Infantile amnesia is the lack of recall of almost all memories that occurred in the first three years of our life. How does Freud explain infantile amnesia? | Freud explained infantile amnesia in a 'Trauma theory'. He proposed that infants had neurological immaturity, that emotional encoding and schemas of events or self-schemas were underdeveloped |
| What is the reminiscence bump? | The age gap (10 - 30 years of age) where a large proportion of memories can be retrieved from. |
| What is the 'Transfer Appropriate Processing' principle? | TAP states that memory retrieval is best when the context of retrieval and time of encoding match. Memory recall (implicit memory) operates on this principle, while memory recognition (explicit memory) is largely unaffected. |
Want to create your own Flashcards for free with GoConqr? Learn more.